Chapter 455
"Ah … I'm sorry!" Although Asuna was apologizing, she couldn't stop the joy on her face from overflowing.
Leaning against the headboard, Cristoya looked at her and couldn't help but be infected by her. She smiled, "I heard your laughter from far away. Tell me, what good news is there?"
"Madam, Lady Aegnis … Oh no, Princess Consorts! Congratulations, the Senate has just announced that Lord Devers is the King of Diónia! "Asuna said the joy in her heart in one breath.
Cristoya's pretty face was also brimming with joy, completely concealing the weakness of childbirth. At this moment, she suddenly remembered that after one of their lovemaking sessions, the Devers had said in high spirits, 'Little Cyrus is nothing special. In the near future, I'll make you a Princess as well!' … The Devers had really done it!
Aegnis wasn't as excited as Cristoya and Asuna. After all, Greece had been away from royal politics for hundreds of years, so she didn't feel too much about it. She was just happy for her husband.
"My two Princess Consorts, when Cynthia and Adoris return from school, let's hold a banquet to celebrate this good news. What do you think?" Asuna suggested. Cristoya only pondered for a moment before shaking her head, "The people of the Alliance are now worried about the war and their loved ones. If we hold a banquet to celebrate it, it will cause disgust and damage the reputation of the Devers!"
"You're right, Princess Consort," Asuna said hurriedly.
Cristoya reminded her again, "Don't use the term 'Princess Consort'. Things haven't been completely confirmed yet, let's not be too pleased with ourselves!"
"Yes, I think it's better to use the old title, it makes people feel closer," Aegnis interrupted. "Why don't we offer sacrifices to the gods at home tonight, thanking them for their blessings, and hoping that they will protect the Devers and allow them to return safely!"
"That's a great suggestion, sister! We should offer sacrifices to Hades and thank him for protecting our husband! At the same time, "Christoya smiled as she looked at Aegnis," We have to offer sacrifices to Hera, to thank her for allowing me to give birth to a healthy Eunice. I hope she can bless you with a child as well! "
"Mm!" Aegnis gently caressed her slightly protruding belly, revealing a motherly smile.
"Wow! Wow! Wow! At that moment, Eunice woke up in the cradle.
"Aiyo, my little princess!" Asuna rushed over and lifted the diaper to take a look. "She pooped, and there's quite a lot of it!" As she spoke, she skillfully changed the diaper …
… …
Early in the morning, the people of Crotone were woken up by the sound of the bugle outside the city.
"What happened?"
"I'm afraid Syracuse is about to attack the city!"
…
The people looked at the city walls filled with soldiers anxiously.
Suddenly, a black dot swept past the city wall.
"Dodge!" The people reminded each other. They looked in the direction of the projectiles and scattered. They were already very familiar with the terrifying weapon Syracuse. Its attacks on Ciudad Crotone had not stopped for the past few days.
But today's situation was obviously different from the previous two days. The projectiles flew past the city walls one after another, smashing into the streets near the city walls. Houses were quickly destroyed and rubble was everywhere. The people supported their injured relatives and scattered in all directions …
The projectiles bombarded the city walls again and again, causing the stone to fall off piece by piece …
Lucias, who was watching all this from the top of the city walls, began to feel anxious. "Why isn't the Diónia's ballista team retaliating? Why are they letting the enemy fire the projectiles so recklessly?"
"Lord Lucias, the Diónia have no choice." Ascamas, who had communicated with the ballista team many times, explained, "The towers on our city walls are too narrow to fit a single ballista. They can only place the ballista below the city walls. But the city walls are too high, so the ballista has to be raised, which shortens the range … "
"In other words, they can't attack the enemy's ballista!" Lucias understood.
"Yes. That's why the Diónia suggested that we don't expose our ballista yet. We should wait for the enemy to attack before giving them a heavy blow. " Although Astamas did not have a good impression of Diónia before, he knew the importance of unity in the face of a great enemy. Thus, he said frankly, "I think that's a good idea."
Lucias thought about it, and reluctantly agreed with the suggestion of the Diónia ballista team. "But what do we do now? The enemy is using more ballista today than two days ago. I'm afraid that the city walls will collapse! "
"Don't worry, that won't happen for the time being." Ascamas comforted him. "We can only wait for the enemy to attack and then give them a heavy blow! I believe that the Syracuse people will make their move soon! "
As Ascamas spoke, his eyes were fixed on the wide earthen rampart that the Syracuse people had built over the past few days. It was taller than the city walls, and he believed that compared to the ballista, this was the real threat to the city's defenses. Yesterday, he had sent soldiers out of the city to destroy it, but they were defeated by the well-prepared Syracuse people. He had even thought of digging a tunnel to get there, but the city was surrounded by a moat, and when the tunnel was dug below the moat, water started seeping, scaring the soldiers into retreating. Otherwise, they might drown in the tunnel. In the end, it was the Diónia people who told him that there was a way to destroy that earthen rampart, and he was temporarily relieved.
Ascamas knew that although there was no one above the earthen rampart now, when the siege began, it would be filled with Syracuse archers, firing arrows at the soldiers on the city walls …
"I'll go take a look at the Triene people, I'll leave everything here to you!" Lysias said solemnly. The continuous roars made him extremely nervous, as if the city walls would collapse at any time, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Coincidentally, Cypross was leading the Triene soldiers to defend the northern part of the city today. As the chief general of Crotone, it was necessary for him to pay his respects. At the same time, he had to pay his respects to the thousands of Xillian soldiers who were defending the southern part of the city. They were also a reliable force. Because Syracuse had massacred the Xillian City, the families and friends of these soldiers were either killed, sold as slaves, or sent to foreign lands. The anger of the Xillian soldiers could only be appeased with the blood of the Syracuse people, and they were the ones who hoped that Syracuse would attack.
Just as Lysias was about to leave, an urgent report came from the guards: countless Syracuse warships had appeared outside the port, and were preparing to invade the bay.
Crotone was somewhat similar to Tarantum. Their port and the city itself were one, but the port was built in the bay. As the bay was larger, it was impossible for the Crotone people to blockade it. Therefore, when the enemy's fleet broke in, it was possible that they would land on the side and rear of Ciudad Crotone (which was the southeast of the city). Although there was also a city wall there, while defending the city wall, they also had to be wary of the enemy breaking into the port and landing at the docks. This required a higher level of command and judgment from the commander, especially when Crotone did not have too many troops.
"We need an experienced commander to command the few soldiers in the port area, and prevent the enemy from attacking our rear!" Ascamas said solemnly.
Lysias understood what he meant, and said without hesitation, "I will send Myron."
Myron, the former chief general of Crotone, was expelled by the citizens of Crotone after leading his army to defeat Diónia. He had no choice but to run to the Peloponnesus Peninsula not far from Crotone, and lived in seclusion in the coastal city of Colion, within the borders of Elis.
It was only when the army of Syracuse invaded Greece that Crotone decided to recall the exiled citizens, so that they could work together to fight against the people of Syracuse. As soon as Myron received the news, he immediately returned to Crotone, but by then, the Crotone army had already set off for Sirium, so he stayed in the city as a normal citizen until he was mobilized today.
After hearing Lysias' words, Ascamas smiled, but the smile quickly disappeared, because the enemy had begun their attack …
… …
A few hundred meters away, the army of Syracuse slowly approached the city wall in a loose, seemingly endless formation. At the very front were some strange-looking construction machines pushed by the people of Syracuse, such as siege hammers, and wooden carriages that were five to six meters long that were similar to the siege hammers, had a roof, and hid people inside …
What worried Ascamas the most were the three huge, movable wooden towers that were taller than the city wall. Although it was the first time Ascamas saw them in battle, a word immediately flashed through his mind — siege towers. He had heard that the people of Syracuse used siege towers to take down many of Carthage's cities in Sicily, but now that he saw the real thing, he was shocked.
When the soldiers saw the huge engineering tower slowly approaching them, they were also shocked and at a loss of what to do.
"Keep your spirits up!" Ascamas shouted, and continued to encourage the soldiers, and himself, "Don't be fooled by the size of that thing, it can't cross the moat!"
That's right, the monster can't cross the moat with the moat! The soldiers were temporarily relieved. Then, they saw the enemy's siege column stop advancing. Thousands of naked men walked out from it, carrying bags on their backs, and staggered towards the city wall. Behind them were fully armed light infantry of Syracuse, pushing the shielding carriages behind them …
Could it be that they are the slaves of Syracuse, preparing to fill our moat?! Correbus and his companions around him had the same thought, and they gripped the javelins and bows in their hands tightly.
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